The Shared Equity Home Buyer Helper Scheme will significantly reduce the upfront costs of buying a house, with eligible first home buyers only requiring a deposit as little as two per cent.

Furthermore, with the Government owning a sizeable portion of their home, eligible buyers will only have to repay the mortgage repayments on their share of the property and avoid costly mortgage insurance fees.

Under the scheme, the Government can take a share of up to 40 percent in a newly built property, drastically reducing the mortgage repayments for eligible buyers.

“Key workers, single parents and older singles will be able to have the security of home ownership with a lower upfront deposit, a smaller loan, lower repayments, no lenders mortgage insurance and no interest on the Government’s equity share in a property,” said NSW Premier Dom Perrottet about the scheme.

“The NSW Government is helping make home ownership a reality for more people across our state.”

The scheme is open to nurses and midwives, teachers, paramedics, police, early childcare educators, single parents and single people aged more than 50, who earn less than $90,000 a year (or $120,000 for couples). Eligible applications can buy a property worth up to $950,000 through the scheme.

Participants can save up to $350,000 on mortgage for new Sydney home

For a single parent buying a new apartment in Sydney for $950,000, a 40 percent government contribution in their property would slash $380,000 off the purchase price. The result would be a reduction in monthly mortgage repayments of around $2,200, based on a scenario with an interest rate of six percent over a 30 year term.

“This will definitely, finally put our dream into an actual reality,” said early childhood educator and Hayley Dalgleish, one of many hopefuls who have applied to take part.

Other prospective buyers can use the assessment tool on the Shared Equity Home Buyer website to see if they qualify.

Raft of State, Federal Government support packages now available to first home buyers

The Shared Equity scheme came into effect in January, just days after the launch of the First Home Buyer Choice scheme, which gives tens of thousands of first homebuyers in NSW the option of forgoing upfront transfer duty payments on properties worth up to $1.5 million in favour of smaller annual property tax payments.

When combined with a similar Federal Government shared housing equity program – which is enabling 35,000 Australians to buy their first home with a deposit of just five percent, zero lenders mortgage insurance, and a Government contribution of 15 percent of the purchase price – the result is that prospective buyers have never enjoyed so much financial assistance in their efforts to gain a foothold in the market.

Shared Equity Home Buyer Helper scheme applicants remain eligible for first home owner grants and any stamp duty exemptions or concessions.